skl
11-02-2007, 09:04 AM
well one less candidate on election day
http://newsday.co.tt/politics/0,67293.html
PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning will have one less opponent for his San Fernando East seat in Monday’s General Election after anti-death penalty campaigner Ishmael Samad withdrew from the election race as an independent candidate.
This leaves the Congress of the People’s (COP) Mervyn Assam and United National Congress (UNC) Alliance’s Frederick Norman as the two opponents seeking to wrest San Fernando East from Manning.
“I made it known from the beginning, I wasn’t fighting an election but fighting a cause. I planned it that way,” Samad said. He said his nomination had given him a platform to highlight two issues — the 1990 Coup and the alleged planting of missiles and cocaine in the water tank of former UNC MP now COP activist Sadiq Baksh.
“July 2007 was the fifth anniversary of what they did to Sadiq,” Samad lamented, adding that his party — Party for Integrity and Morality in Politics (PIMP) — had as its logo the symbol of a water tank.
Samad said Baksh had been victimised and the water tank logo of PIMP served as a reminded of “all that is corrupt and decadent in politics”.
He said the name PIMP was a parody of some existing politicians, adding, “A pimp is someone who lives off immoral earnings and who would do anything to make a living.”
Samad declined to endorse any of the three remaining candidates, saying it is up to people to choose.
However, he said he liked COP leader Winston Dookeran and vowed to vote COP, although he was worried by a suggestion by COP’s Vernon de Lima for a referendum on the death penalty.
Samad said the death penalty is a moral issue which is above politics and should not be left to be decided by the popular vote of a referendum.
Admitting he now loses his $5,000 election deposit, Samad said it was worthwhile. “The $5,000 I paid was to ensure Sadiq Baksh’s water tank appears on every ballot paper in San Fernando East.” He said this was his fourth and last election.
http://newsday.co.tt/politics/0,67293.html
PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning will have one less opponent for his San Fernando East seat in Monday’s General Election after anti-death penalty campaigner Ishmael Samad withdrew from the election race as an independent candidate.
This leaves the Congress of the People’s (COP) Mervyn Assam and United National Congress (UNC) Alliance’s Frederick Norman as the two opponents seeking to wrest San Fernando East from Manning.
“I made it known from the beginning, I wasn’t fighting an election but fighting a cause. I planned it that way,” Samad said. He said his nomination had given him a platform to highlight two issues — the 1990 Coup and the alleged planting of missiles and cocaine in the water tank of former UNC MP now COP activist Sadiq Baksh.
“July 2007 was the fifth anniversary of what they did to Sadiq,” Samad lamented, adding that his party — Party for Integrity and Morality in Politics (PIMP) — had as its logo the symbol of a water tank.
Samad said Baksh had been victimised and the water tank logo of PIMP served as a reminded of “all that is corrupt and decadent in politics”.
He said the name PIMP was a parody of some existing politicians, adding, “A pimp is someone who lives off immoral earnings and who would do anything to make a living.”
Samad declined to endorse any of the three remaining candidates, saying it is up to people to choose.
However, he said he liked COP leader Winston Dookeran and vowed to vote COP, although he was worried by a suggestion by COP’s Vernon de Lima for a referendum on the death penalty.
Samad said the death penalty is a moral issue which is above politics and should not be left to be decided by the popular vote of a referendum.
Admitting he now loses his $5,000 election deposit, Samad said it was worthwhile. “The $5,000 I paid was to ensure Sadiq Baksh’s water tank appears on every ballot paper in San Fernando East.” He said this was his fourth and last election.